Press
EDDIE TURNER Change In Me – Self-release
“I have seen Eddie Turner play just once, and that was 15 or more years ago when he was touring as a supporting I musician behind Otis Taylor. That I still remember Turner’s performance, practically note for note, either says the sales clerk at the vitamin shoppe is on the level about supplements or Turner’s guitar work was inspired that night. Let’s go with the latter. (The vitamin guy’s shifty.) Turner would take off on extended solos that reminded me of Jimi Hendrix at his most melodic on Electric Ladyland.
Turner’s new solo album, Change In Me, includes one Hendrix song. “My Friend,” from the posthumous Jimi catch-all called The Cry Of Love. It’s quite likely a song that Hendrix might never have released – the lyrics don’t make sense, and Hendrix is on bass guitar, with Ken Pine on 12-string – but Turner reworks the storyline, shifting the locale from L.A. to Harlem and realigning parts from several verses to deliver a more coherent tale than the meandering original.
Turner also remodels the old Velvet Underground tune “I’m Waiting For My Man,” giving it a spooky intro and then doubling his voice as he tells the story of a junkie trying to score at the wrong place at the wrong time. The Velvet’s original had a finger-snapping percussive sound, with Lou Reed practically barking the lyric; Turner slows it down and gives it a two a.m. city-that-never sleeps feel, complete with drifting sound effects. The hard-to-please Reed might well approve. There’s also a cover Willie Dixon’s “Hoochie Coochie Man” (here spelled “Koochie”).
The seven other songs on Change In Me are Turner originals. His vocals and guitar get good support from Neal Evans on organ, co-producer Kenny Passarelli on bass, keyboards, and backing vocals, and various drummers. For a small ensemble, they manage a surprisingly big sound. Jessie Lee Thetford adds a second chasing vocal on several tracks also.” – Bill Wasserzieher, Blues Music Magazine
“For a small ensemble, they manage a surprisingly big sound” – Blues Music Magazine
“He shines like a diamond” – Blues Blast Magazine
“Turner Mixes Jimi Hendrix-like guitar work with Staple Singers-styled soul on this rich blues-soaked release.” – Jazz Weekly
“Change In Me” takes us on an enticing journey of jazz, blues, and rock, a melting pot of sounds, with Turner’s expressive voice over it.” Rootstime.be
“Eddie Turner doesn’t follow the well-worn, accepted format in creating his art, with mostly machinating lyrics and downbeat melodies that ignore the well-worn paths to popularity” – The Rockin’ Magpie